David Millar’s Fizik Shoes Raise Money for Charity

All winter long, we have been reporting on David Millar celebrating his 18th and final season as a professional cyclist by teaming up with the Small Steps Project charity, to produce a series of special edition road shoes in collaboration with Fizi:k – to be auctioned off for charity.

Well, the latest shoes to be added to the ‘An Eloquence of Movement’ series are from Paris-Roubaix.

The auction for the shoes is open for another 10 days.

You’ll see the words “Paris-Roubaix est un connerie” on the side of the heel. There are a few ways to translate that but essentially it means “Paris-Roubaix is a bloody stupid thing to do.”

Hell Shoes

My first encounter with Paris Roubaix was as an amateur (U23) riding for VC St.Quentin. It wasn’t as long as the pro version, we started closer to Roubaix, in St.Quentin to be exact. I was sick, having raced myself into a hole the previous three months, the team still wanted me to start as I was their only hope and obviously it was a big deal starting in our home town. I did 5km, turned off the course and went straight to the little village where I lived (Morcourt), race number still on. I’m not sure how happy the team was about that, I can’t remember, probably not very.

My next encounter was the following year as a neo-pro, Cyrille Guimard called me up a few days before and said they needed me; I didn’t want to go. I was sick, having raced myself into the ground the previous two months. The race was a big deal as the Cofidis HQ was about 9km from Roubaix. Needless to say, I refused to start, I’m not sure how happy the team was about that, I can’t remember, probably not very.

This basically sums up my history with Roubaix, I think the Hell of the North thing has always been stuck in my head to a degree that it has become my nemesis. I have ended up starting it twice (I think) in my career. Both times I didn’t finish.

So when I was asked by my team if I’d do Paris Roubaix at Milan San Remo three weeks ago I gave them a puzzled look, as if to say, ‘You’re joking right?’ They know me though, and reminded me it was my last year and Roubaix is such a monument of a race it would be silly not to. I told my wife, Nicole, and she said, ‘You’re not going to do it are you? You always tell me how much you hate it.’

So here I am, getting ready to do it. We didn’t have any shoes prepared for it and only had a couple of days to come up with an idea. The VCRC Style Council out did themselves and managed to create the design, fi’zi:k as usual managed to make the shoes in record time and so I wore them for the first time in the recon yesterday, where, against all my expectations I loved the pavé. Maybe because I know it’s the last time and this year I have to finish it. Nicole is even coming up to watch, which says it all really.

The design itself is based on the finish, the velodrome and the famous showers. This way whenever I look down I’ll be reminded that I have to get there. No giving up this year, I was telling Sebastian Langeveld yesterday that I find it easier to finish a Grand Tour than I do Paris Roubaix (starting it has actually been my biggest problem). So these shoes are about me finishing, making it through hell, for once and for all.

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Last month we reported that David Millar was celebrating is 18th and final season as a professional cyclist by teaming up with the Small Steps Project charity, to produce a series of special edition road shoes in collaboration with Fizi:k – to be auctioned off for charity.

Well, according to the Sellebrity Auction site, as part of Millar’s ‘Eloquence Of Movement’ project, his first pair of shoes titled "Challenge Mallorca" – have sold for £460.

The next two pairs of shoes that will be up for auction, are the ones he raced in at this year’s Omloop Het Nieuwblad and Kurne-Brussels-Kurne.

The Shoes are currently at £100 and £50 respectively, but with 5 and 12 days remaining in the auction, they’re expected to fetch a much higher price.